Muraia te'Iunae
Muraia te'Iunae (titularly Akko Muraia) was the last Lyrian Akko before the Empire's fall in Autumn 273. Reigning from Autumn 247 to 273, his 26 year rule was short compared to those before him, ending with his dramatic death at the hands of Gunda Kinos. Above all, Muraia was famous for his extremist policies against the Taryphos, but was also well-known for his elitism regarding Dunaan and Arano traditional religions. Muraia was the final Akko of the Lyrian Empire, and best known for being such. His legacy, however, did extend beyond the grave: many cultists hailing him as a Messianic figure developed after his death and the fall of Lyria, numerous technological breakthroughs and structures were known to have come into being under Muraia's rule, and the Akko serves as a general historic reminder of the faults that lead to the destruction of a nation. Great expansion occured under his rule as well, especially into neighboring states in the Kira Jungle. The acquisition of Fónna as a full-fledged member state—rather than the murky autonomous client-ally state it was before—sparked a brief high point in Muraia's rule, before the abuse of traditional religious sites near Fónnin collapsed much of the benefits the state provided, as resource routes between it and the Lyrian Peninsula were throttled by rebelling Dunaan. Regardless of his faults, Akko Muraia was attributed by Lyrian historians as one of the Great Kraeta, for his astounding achievements and executive power during his reign. He was—at least by most accounts—the final Lyrian demigod, and the last known surviving member (although he possesses a distant and contested relation) of the Velnal dynasty. Early Life Born into an obscured background, it was believed that Muraia was the child of lowborn miners in the frontier town of Iunae. Unlike emperors beforehand, Muraia's poor roots made him the perfect candidate for an emperor that represents the people; however, his background also provided a catalyst for staunch hatred of the Taryphos. Iunae was consistently raided by Taryphos abolitionists, and many of the locals believed the beast race was a cancerous blight. According to Muraia, his family was murdered at the hands of Taryphos bandits, leading him to leave the city and explore the empire. Political Career 'Early Beginnings' Upon Muraia's arrival in the city of Arctun, he saw the shaky governance of both the city and the frontier province of Kalaetos (modern Kalythos), and formed a worker's rebellion to overthrow the local Seiaki. Through a short, relatively bloodless coup, the Seiaki was deposed, and a formal recognition of the change in leadership was received shortly after from the mainland Lyrian Empire. Central government officials were unopposed at the time to petty squabbles in Kalythos and many of its other frontier lands, due to growing tension among East-West Lyrian domestic silver trade. Muraia governed Arctun and the greater Kalythos as a "provisional" Seiaki for several years, and was responsible for the growth of significant Taryphos slave trade in the territory. However, given his lack of experience with governance, and no formal police system in the territory, he was deposed in the Second Great Slave Rebellion, when a group of Taryphos and Lyrian assailants, believed to be orchestrated by the Karoph, stabbed him over 175 times in Arctun's central marketplace. Assumed dead, the slave rebels gained control of Muraia's throne in Arctun, only to have the city seized soon after by a group of Protean infiltrators. However, Muraia's failure as a leader left him exiled onto the streets of Arctun, and he reportedly lived inside of a discarded ceramic storage urn for several years as a Poaia. Muraia and the rest of the community in Arctun were surprised he had survived over 170 stab wounds, but most assumed he just got lucky. Muraia spent nearly 3 years on the streets, begging for food and living in his own filth. Curiously, the harsh winters of Kalythos never once killed him, and Muraia managed to survive with little food or water. 'Akko Tyrean & The Muraian Succession Crisis' Muraia finally found salvation when Akko Tyrean, the emperor of Lyria at the time, visited Arctun, supposedly on a farewell tour through the empire, expecting his death to be on its way. However, according to personal journals of Tyrean's, he was on a search for his only potentially eligible heir: Muraia te'Iunae. Tyrean had heard of the deposed Seiaki's miraculous survival, and was convinced that Muraia was an unknown demigod. It was consistently insisted later by Tyrean that Muraia was a distant nephew within the Velnal Dynasty, but many contested that claim. Tyrean found Muraia in the streets of Arctun, pitying his condition. He invited the dejected man into his tour caravan, to which the staunchly nationalist Muraia was taken aback by. Muraia accompanied Tyrean for the rest of his tour of the empire, during which Tyrean explained his intentions of naming Muraia heir to it all. It was questioned by the rest of the government officials of Lyria how Muraia ever qualified as a demigod, but Tyrean asserted that Muraia was a distant relative, and in fact a very powerful Lyrian demigod. After performing rigorous tests, the Scholar Council determined that Muraia did in fact possess the blood of the Lyrian demigods. Upon succession, however, this led to the Muraian Succession War. Several Dukes, especially in East Lyria, defected from the empire, but Muraia proved his mettle as a strong Akko upon swift decimation of the rebellions. The imprisonment of large amounts of duchy rulers allowed Muraia to appoint his own supporters to their thrones—further cementing his place on the throne. Although many officials detested this action (as it violated rigid succession laws), the Peerless Courts and the Duke Assemblage could never reach a unanimous decision to remove Muraia from office. Inheriting from the former rule of Tyrean gave Muraia a considerable edge with the more warmongering officials in Lyria's government, a majority that could not be matched by a more peaceful opposition.